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For heavy vehicle drivers January 2010 will see a new innovative driver training aid available in New Zealand - The TranSim VS IV heavy vehicle driver training simulator. Training in complex actions using simulators, such as flying an aircraft, navigating a ship and driving a truck have long been accepted as effective and cost efficient training methodology. Indeed we have now reached a point in commercial pilot training, where all conversion and recurrent training can be conducted in a simulator, so that a pilot of one aircraft type can be cross trained to another, without ever actually having flown the real target aircraft. The first time that pilots of the new Airbus A380 fly a real aircraft is when they are on board a real aircraft, carrying fare paying passengers...
Interactive simulators allow training to be more efficient and effective:
- providing the ultimate training experience;
- at a significantly reduced costs; and
- in a controlled and safe environment
Training heavy vehicle drivers (trucks, and bus and coach drivers) using a simulator:
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provides an opportunity to reproduce the characteristics of real vehicles in a virtual environment;
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replicates the external factors and conditions with which a vehicle interacts enabling a driver to feel as if they are sitting in the cab of their own vehicle; and
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replicates scenarios and events with sufficient reality to ensure that drivers become fully immersed in the training experience
The simulator provides a constructive training environment for the novice driver and enables more complex exercises to be undertaken by the more mature and experienced driver. For novice drivers, truck simulators provide an opportunity to begin their career by applying best practice. For mature drivers, simulation provides the ability to enhance good driving or to detect poor practice and to suggest the necessary steps for remedial action. For companies, it provides an opportunity to educate staff in the driving skills that achieve reduced maintenance costs, improved fuel efficiency and, most importantly, ensure the safety of their actions in all possible situations.
Training and assessing drivers of heavy vehicles using a simulator allows the user drivers to be trained and assessed over exactly the same route, experience the same changing road, traffic and weather conditions, all without use of fuel, road user charges, road space and in a completely safe and accident free environment - over a much reduced driving time with zero carbon emissions!
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